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The Blue Letter Bible

Lamentations 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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The Holy Stones Lie Scattered

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:1

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:1 - How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:2

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:2 - The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold,
how they are regarded as earthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:3

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:3 - Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:4

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:4 - The tongue of the nursing infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:5

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:5 - Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:6

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:6 - For the chastisement[fn] of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment[fn] of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:7

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:7 - Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form[fn] was like sapphire.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:8

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:8 - Now their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:9

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:9 - Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:10

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:10 - The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:11

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:11 - The LORD gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and he kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:12

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:12 - The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:13

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:13 - This was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:14

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:14 - They wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
that no one was able to touch
their garments.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:15

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:15 - “Away! Unclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:16

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:16 - The LORD himself[fn] has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
no favor to the elders.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:17

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:17 - Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:18

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:18 - They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:19 - Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:20

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:20 - The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’s anointed,
was captured in their pits,
of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:21

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:21 - Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.

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Unchecked Copy Box Lam 4:22

Unchecked Copy BoxLam 4:22 - The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;[fn]
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Or iniquity
Or sin
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
Hebrew lapis lazuli
Hebrew The face of the LORD
Or he will not exile you again
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Lamentations Chapter 4 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras